Omega Ensemble pays tribute to power of song
IT was all about the human voice and the power of song when the Omega Ensemble presented the latest of their Master Series.
Inner West
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THROUGH the window there was a grandstand view as the Invictus Games sailing races got under way in Farm Cove on Sunday afternoon, while inside Sydney Opera House’s Utzon Room it was all about the human voice and the power of song when the Omega Ensemble presented the latest of their Master Series.
The voice was the group’s soprano of choice, Geelong-born Lee Abrahmsen, accompanied by Omega’s co-artistic director Maria Raspopova in a program of songs by three vastly different composers.
The program started with a selection of Chansons, Banalites and Poemes by 20th century French composer Francis Poulenc, the seven songs showcasing his often waspish wit, sophistication and gift for melody.
The bracket featured settings of poems by Guillaume Apollinaire, including a languid number called Hotel in which the narrator is reluctant to get out of bed and just wants to smoke, and a contrasting song that described the excitement of a trip to Paris.
On a more serious note a poem by the surrealist Louis Aragon evoked the chaos and tragedy of the fall of France to the Nazis in 1940.
MEANING
Abrahmsen’s is a rich and sonorous voice, suited to “big” dramatic roles but also capable of subtle expression, and she is gifted with an actor’s natural ability to convey emotion and meaning, even in a language that the audience might not understand.
There was no problem with understanding what Rachmaninov was saying in Vocalise, the most famous of his songs, because it is all done without a word being articulated. This is truly an exercise in a singer’s breath control across their whole range with the dynamics building and dying away again.
Abrahmsen handled it beautifully, admirably assisted by Raspopova’s lush accompaniment, and the four other selections of the 14 Romances that followed were equally impressive.
Australian composer and pianist Ian Munro originally set three of Judith Wright’s poems about this country as Letters to a Friend, and later orchestrated them for Richard Tognetti and the ACO.
Now he has added two more songs for Omega and this performance was the Australian premiere of the longer cycle, and it proved to be a powerful work dedicated to friendship.
The other work on the program was Schubert’s The Shepherd on the Rock, written not long before he died for his favourite soprano and featuring some lovely obbligato passages for clarinet — played with customary aplomb by David Rowden.
Earlier the audience was treated to some “bonus tracks” when Raspopova performed a few excerpts from Prokofiev’s Visions Fugitives, which she has recently recorded and which is available on iTunes, Spotify and Google Play.
DETAILS
● CONCERT: Omega Ensemble with Lee Abrahmsen
● WHERE: Utzon Room
● WHEN: Sunday, October 21